Compiled by Don Hoiness from archived copies of The Bulletin at Deschutes County Historical Society.

100 YEARS AGO

For the week ending

Feb. 3, 1918

Sunnybrook label attracts youths; crime is scented

Three boys went past the back porch of a house in Kenwood Sunday night. They went past it again. Their gaze was glued to an object setting on the floor just inside the screen. It was a bottle of familiar shape and it bore the label, “Old Sunnybrook.”

Now, although the youths were only about 15 years of age, they developed a craving for just a taste of the contents of the bottle. It had a strange attraction for them and at night they returned again to gaze upon its fair proportions from outside the screen. The temptation was too much. One of the boys produced his pocket knife and they made short work of the wire netting. One grab was enough, they had the bottle and were soon safely out of sight.

Meanwhile, neighbors, who had heard the lads cutting the screen scented a burglary. They telephoned Sheriff Roberts, “Help, burglars, come quick!”

The sheriff got into his machine and sped to the scene of the crime, but too late, the boys had gone. Investigation showed that only the bottle was missing.

“What did you have in it?” the sheriff inquired of M.D. Knutsen, its owner.

“Vinegar,” replied Mr. Knutsen.

Army requirements ordered changed

Changes in the army physical requirements permitting more enrollments have been announced by General Crowder. This indicates that the army intends to hold all but incurables for special or general service. A wider latitude as to height and weight has been allowed and the boards are ordered to cease rejecting men for foot troubles. The medical officers are to decide upon these. Flatfoot will be considered no bar, neither will spinal trouble, color blindness or deafness in ear disqualify.

Would compel conservation

Good Administrator Hoover warned Congress today in a letter to the head of the agriculture committee of the House of Representatives that Congress alone will be responsible for the consequences if he is not given power to enforce food conservation. He said that the results of voluntary conservation have been wonderful but that the unpatriotic minority must be forced into line.

He asks for the power to prohibit the use of food stuffs in non-food products, to limit the quantity of foods served in public eating houses and to enforce the weekly wheatless and meatless days. Hoover says he would control the distribution so that all classes and localities would share alike. This would prevent unnecessary consumption and would make it possible to control the commodities necessary for the preservation of foodstuffs and thus prevent great losses and military sacrifices.

The plan would also eliminate the less essential foods manufactured at present.

Hoover also wants to conserve ammonia for refrigeration purposes.

75 YEARS AGO

For the week ending

Feb. 3, 1943

Bend’s historic 47-inch fall of snow in 1919 is recalled

Here’s all about that 1919 snowstorm so often recalled by the older residents of Bend. According to The Bend Bulletin, Dec. 11, 1919:

“Although indications of more snow are slight, with the ground hidden under a white covering of from three to four feet in depth, Deschutes county is feeling the results of one of the worst storms in the history of Central Oregon.

“In Bend, the continuous fall, which started about 1 o’clock the morning of Dec. 9, and lasted until late last night, was 47 inches, and in addition to this some eight inches of a previous fall already lay on the ground when the big storm commenced.

“Few wheeled vehicles were able to make their way through the snow yesterday and then only when pulled by one or two extra teams of horses.

“Nearly 2,000 men were left without work when both the Brooks-Scanlon Lumber Company Inc, and The Shevlin-Hixon Company suspended operations in all departments.

“Bend felt its coldest weather in many years, when the thermometer registered 25 degrees below zero. This is the lowest temperature noted on official records, and equals the unofficial minimum reached in the disastrous storm of the winter of 1884-85.”

One of greatest battles in history comes to end as Stalingrad Nazis surrender

New life surged through the house of Stalingrad today after a night of eerie quiet which followed the surrender or death of the last of the 330,000 German and satellite troops whom Adolf Hitler sacrificed in his vain attempt to make good his boast that the red bastion on the Volga would fall.

The battle, which started late last August when the Germans broke across the Don, ended at 4 p.m. yesterday.

In the final hours, resistance had been carried on by groups of German officers in pill boxes, dugouts and fortified buildings.

German soldiers had shot many officers who refused to yield.

50 YEARS AGO

For the week ending

Feb. 3, 1968

Must be preserved — My Nickel’s Worth

To the Editor: Recently I received a phone call from a friend in the Portland area inquiring abut our large Central Oregon jackrabbits, especially the jackalope.

The jackalope is recognized by most of us by its slightly larger size and a pair of horns between its ears. To the casual visitor they appear as a common jack, but to the hunter who is not accustomed to the larger jackalope, it’s quite a shock upon the discovery of the horns.

Some say he is a cross between the antelope and a jack and others say it’s the other way round, but no matter. The important thing is that the word is out and we should do everything we can to stop this loose talk if we want to preserve this valuable species.

Needless to say this sportsman was attracted to these trophies and wanted his badly. I told him that the whole thing was a hoax and there was no such thing as a jackalope. I don’t know how long this lie will detain him, but I hope with the help of others we can put a stop to the exploitation of this unusual local species.

We must go as far as withdrawing this animal from the nomination as state animal (as recommended by some) if we want to preserve him. Sincerely, Jim Walker

Identifying evidence may pose problem

Someone with a yard full of giant snowballs may be the meanest thief in town.

About 10 chunks of packed snow, some of them almost three feet in diameter, were taken from the playground at Kingston School last night. The children had rolled the snowballs for snowmen, but got them so big they couldn’t lift them, so kept making more. Today, they had planned to roll the balls together for a fort.

A resident in the Kingston area told school authorities the snowballs were hauled away in a pickup by a group of older boys.

Theft was not reported to police. Warming weather was expected to melt the evidence.

Editor’s note: If you were one of these boys who 50 years ago stole those snowballs, now would be a good time to clear your conscience and fess up.

25 YEARS AGO

For the week ending

Feb. 3, 1993

Junipers go in home’s walls, not stove

Juniper trees might be nothing to sneeze at if a Seneca log home builder and the Ochoco National Forest get their way.

Builder Storm Carpenter is putting together a 2,100-square-foot log home for a John Day doctor using juniper cut from the owner’s land. “This is the first juniper home that I know of,” he said.

Juniper trees are considered by many to be weeds that plague the Central Oregon landscape, good for firewood, tree forts and allergies.

Carpenter builds two or three homes a year out of pine logs. When it is completed this spring, though, this project will have taken a little more than a year.

“It’s at least 50 percent more labor intensive — probably more like 75 percent,” he said.

Carpenter didn’t express any regrets about pioneering the use of juniper, but he did sympathize with his brother-in-law, an apprentice on the project. “It had to be the hardest log home in the world to learn on,” he said.

Word that someone had found another use for the ubiquitous juniper was welcomed by Greg Elstad, timber management assistant for the Ochoco forest.

“I like the idea,” Elstad said. “I would like to see some local industries use juniper trees for something.”

Junipers usually out-compete native grasses and shrubs for water and sunlight, leaving less forage for livestock and wildlife. Their spread is mostly thanks to the coming of the white man, who puts out the range fires that historically kept juniper in check.

“They dominate the drier spots so they’re not popular with ranchers,” Elstad said. “As much as we like all of God’s creations, when there are too many of them in one spot, some of them have to go.”

Carpenter’s client is Dr. Pat Shipsey of John Day.

Juniper’s roughness and toughness are part of its appeal too. “It never rots. Basically that house is going to be there forever,” the John Day physician said. “It’s like walking into a hobbit house — all the knots and bumps. It’s absolutely gorgeous. And it smells like cedar.”

Juniper standing 75 feet tall yielded logs up to 45 feet long and 16 to 26 inches in diameter.

The two-story home will have three bedrooms, two baths, a den/office, kitchen and utility room.

Because power poles don’t run anywhere near the site, Shipsey will use hydro power from a stream plus solar cells and storage batteries to run his rustic-yet-modern abode. A solar attic will force warm air through slate floors to help heat the house. Just like the juniper trees, all the rock will come off his property.

Also, a friend of Carpenter’s, Rick Meyers, fashioned furniture and massive doors for the home from logs felled by a previous owner under a government program to encourage the eradication of junipers.

The unused tops and branches will become firewood.